Perceptions
by Random1377
Summary: An idea I had.  Perhaps you'll enjoy it.
1. Meetings and Such

Disclaimer: the rights to all anime series depicted in this story are the excusive properties of the original creators. Should any of the copyright holders request it, this story will be removed from the web immediately.

Perceptions

(EVA Echo)

Part 1 – Meetings and Such

By Random1377

Cubists and surrealists, neoclassical and baroque, sculptures, paintings, and every art form imaginable surrounded Misato as she wandered aimlessly through the Tokyo-3 City museum, her arms folded tightly against her stomach to avoid accidentally brushing anything that cost more than she made in a lifetime. She gazed up at the mobiles hanging from the ceiling, shaking her head in bemusement as she wondered what kind of wacko it took to come up with some of the bizarre designs.

She was not even sure why she had stopped in this foreign structure, past the fact that it had started to rain when she was out taking a walk to clear her head, and it had been convenient to slip into the dusty smelling building to avoid getting soaked.

_Everything is getting so complicated_, she mused as she wandered from room to room, barely seeing the artwork. _First that business with the sub-commander disappearing… and now Kaji's gone… God, I just don't want to think anymore…_

Misato forced her mind into silence as she stood in front of an abstract sculpture in the heart of the museum. The title read 'Woman Reclining' but it looked more like someone took a chainsaw to chunk of stone and carved out random curves.

_Doesn't even look human,_ she thought critically, scowling at the sculpture as if willing it to rearrange itself into something that made sense. _Maybe it's like one of those magic-eye puzzles, where you have to stare at it for a long time before the image pops out at you._

Deciding that she had nothing better to do, Misato stared… but after a few minutes of silence, she became aware of a soft, repetitive scratching sound coming from somewhere on her left side. Pulling her attention away from the sculpture, she found a young man sitting on a folding seat just behind her. He had a sketchbook on his lap, and was using a pencil to hastily outline a drawing, his eyes focused on the task for the moment as she stepped closer and glanced down at the page to see how good he was.

"Hey!"

The young man looked up, startled by her surprised exclamation. "Oh, umm… h-hi…" he stammered, pushing his glasses higher onto his nose with one hand as he tried to close his sketchbook with the other.

Misato reached out and put her hand on his, keeping the book open as she craned her neck for a better view, her brows drawing down as she surveyed the detailed drawing of the room… with the hastily added sketch of her own profile.

"Sorry," the young man apologized awkwardly, "you just looked so sad, I couldn't help it…"

Misato gazed at the drawing for a long time, taking in her morose, frowning face and brooding, slightly narrowed eyes. _Is that really what I look like these days?_ she thought grimly. _Good thing I left the house. If Shinji saw me like that, he'd probably cry._

"It's fine," she muttered belatedly, letting her hand off of his and taking a step back. "You're… talented."

"Umm, thanks."

Coloring, Misato turned away, embarrassed at her own awkwardness and sorrow. _What's wrong with me?_ she wondered, wrapping her arms back around her stomach as she started for the door. _Pull it together, Katsuragi – you're going to piece-_

"Umm, ma'am?"

Misato glanced back over her shoulder. "Hmm?"

"You're going to-"

With a nauseating crack, the side of Misato's head met the doorframe, drawing a yelp of surprise and pain from her as she started to topple backwards, some small part of her wondering if they would let her make installment payments as she tumbled helplessly towards the undoubtedly priceless art.

She grunted faintly as her backward motion was arrested, her back hitting something simultaneously hard and soft and diverting the path of her fall so she ended up on her side rather than the sculpture.

The young man, who had broken her fall, groaned pathetically, his voice coming from somewhere under Misato's ribcage. "Ah, God, sorry," she blurted, rolling off of him and getting to her feet as he straightened his glasses with one hand and rubbed his shoulder with the other.

"It's ok," he assured her, looking around for his sketchbook as he rose to his feet, "I'm kinda used to falling down."

Misato blinked at this odd statement. "What," she asked, "are you really clumsy or something?"

Grinning sheepishly, the young man scratched the back of his neck. "Something like that, yeah. I just-"

"Your picture."

"Huh?"

Misato pointed down. "Your picture got torn," she whispered, looking into his disappointed face. "I'm _so_ sorry, umm, sir, I-"

"Keitaro," the young man cut in, kneeling on the floor and gathering up the halves of his drawing, "it's Keitaro… and you don't have to apologize – it was just a sketch, after all. I'm just glad you didn't get hurt." He looked up at her, suddenly concerned. "You didn't, did you?"

"Er, no, I'm good, thanks."

"Ok, good."

Keitaro, as Misato now knew him, stood up and retook his seat, offering her a shy smile as he flipped to a new page and turned his attention back to the sculpture. Misato started to leave, but hesitated, biting her lip as she studied the young man's profile, taking the opportunity to get a really good look at him while his attention was elsewhere.

_He's… kinda good looking,_ she mused as she watched him work. _Pretty intense, too… hell, I think he's forgotten I'm here. _She turned to face him fully, regarding him for another few minutes as he scratched at his sketchpad. Shrugging, she thought, _What_ _the hell?_ _I've got a little time, and I could DEFINITELY use a distraction…_

"Do you… do you wanna get some coffee or something?" she asked, pointing over her shoulder with her thumb.

"Pardon?"

The look of amazement on the young man's face told Misato all she needed to know about his marital status.

"Coffee," she said, sticking her hand up and mimicking the act of holding a cup. "You know – the drink? Dark stuff? People put cream and sugar in it sometimes? Keeps you up late at night?"

Chuckling weakly Keitaro said, "Yeah, I've had it a couple times, I just…"

"Just what?" Misato prompted as he trailed off.

Keitaro looked up at her with a questioning expression, as if trying to decide if she was teasing him or not, then slowly closed his sketchbook and whispered, "Just… I know a great place right across the street."

Misato had the oddest impression that the young man was still waiting for her to retract the offer, but she was soon distracted as he got to his feet and promptly tripped over his own shoelace, falling hands-first towards her chest. Being trained for hand to hand combat, and already a bit on edge, Misato caught his hands at the wrists and took a step back, turning the almost-grope into an impromptu embrace, with Keitaro resting most of his weight against her chest as he stammered an almost sobbing apology.

"You _are_ clumsy, aren't you?" she teased, helping him right himself. She noticed that he immediately shoved his hands in to his pockets, a move she guessed (correctly) would help him avoid feeling her up by accident.

_Good thing he didn't land on my gun,_ she thought wryly, _THAT would have been hard to explain._

With his sketchbook tucked under one arm, the blushing young man lead her to a small coffee shop across the street from the museum. As he hurried through the pounding rain, he somehow managed to get splashed by three separate cars and a bicyclist while Misato herself stayed relatively dry.

_This kid's not just clumsy,_ she thought as she wiped rain off of her face, _he was born under a bad sign or something – a trouble magnet. God, even Shinji has better luck than that!_

Once they were seated and Keitaro was fumbling nervously with the menu, Misato reassessed him. From the glances he continually shot her way she deduced that she was the cause of his klutziness. "I don't bite, you know," she said, smiling faintly as Keitaro nearly jumped out of his booth, dropping his menu between them on the table. When he reached for it, she gently laid her fingers on the back of his hand, waiting until he looked up at her before murmuring, "Just relax, ok?"

"Yeah, sorry," Keitaro said weakly, "I'm just not used to… you know… this…"

Misato leaned back in her chair. "Ordering coffee?"

Keitaro laughed, and Misato was glad to hear that it sounded a bit more genuine. "No, ordering it with a beautiful wo-"

He cut himself off, hiding behind his menu as his face – once more – went bright red.

"Are you two ready to order?"

Looking up, Misato noticed the waitress glancing enviously down at her chest. "Coffee for me, and whatever my boyfriend wants," she said, giving the woman a conspiratorial wink.

Somehow, Misato was never quite sure how, Keitaro managed to tell the waitress that he wanted their special amaretto flavored hot chocolate, though it took him four or five attempts, since he kept stammering and mixing up words. Returning Misato's wink, the waitress let them know that it would be a few minutes, and went off to start putting their order together.

From the other woman's knowing smile, Misato knew that she had a few minutes alone with her shy date.

"So," she said after a moment or two of watching the young man fiddle with his napkin, "beautiful, huh? I guess if you're going to throw out compliments, you should at least know my name." She held out her hand for him to shake. "I'm Misato. Nice to meet you."

To his credit, Keitaro did not try to deny what he had said, and even though he did drop the napkin in his haste to shake her hand, his voice was even as he whispered, "I didn't mean to be so forward, M-Misato," as he paused, Misato smiled, charmed by the trouble he had in spitting out her first name, "I just… I _really_… don't do this much…"

Misato arched an eyebrow. "You mean… ever?"

Keitaro laced his hands together and placed them on the table to keep them from fidgeting with things as he spoke. "No," he said softly, "just… not much."

"Mmm, I see."

It suddenly occurred to Misato how out of place he seemed – as if he just didn't belong to her world, but rather to a place Misato had never dreamed of, let alone known. In studying his face, she felt something stir inside of her, a strange kind of ache that made her eyes sting and her stomach clench up the way it did before kissing someone for the first time.

"Where do you live?"

Keitaro looked up from the table, blinking in surprise at this unexpected question. "I'm, umm, the manager of a dorm a couple towns over," he said carefully. "I live there."

"A manager," Misato repeated, leaning forward and resting her chin in her palms. "Aren't you kind of young for that?"

Chuckling weakly, Keitaro replied, "Feels like it sometimes, but I'm twenty-one, and I've been managing it for two years."

Misato nodded. "Wow," she commented, "you're a pretty responsible person."

Keitaro blushed and averted his eyes. "I guess," he said, looking happy in spite of his discomfort. "What do you do?"

"Oh, I do clerical work," Misato lied smoothly, not feeling like sullying the feeling of the mood with the truth. "Boring office stuff, that's all. Nothing important."

Leaning forward, Keitaro said, "No, that's important too." When Misato gaped at him, he hurried on. "I mean, you know, my parents always said there's no such thing as a meaningless job, and… and if you like what you do, it's… it's… you know…"

Misato smiled softly. "I think I know what you're saying," she said gently, thinking suddenly how much the young man reminded her of Shinji. She looked out the window as Keitaro stared down at the table. "Rain's letting up," she observed motioning their waitress over and explaining, "I should really get this coffee to go. My… roommates will be worried."

"Oh, right, sure," Keitaro exclaimed, quickly getting to his feet as the waitress went off to put their drinks in travel cups, "I should go too, or- whoa!"

Stepping forward, he slipped on the napkin he had dropped earlier, stumbling into the booth with Misato and ending up with his hands on either side of her head and his face inches from hers. He tried to pull back, but her hands (which had instinctively wrapped around his sides to keep him from falling all the way onto her) held him in place.

"S-sorry," he blurted, "I'm so clu-"

"Shh," Misato whispered, "you didn't hurt me… don't worry about it."

Slowly, she eased him back until he was standing on his own two feet.

"So, er, thanks for the drink," Keitaro stammered, shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other as Misato rose to her feet.

"Thanks for hanging out with me," Misato countered, holding out her hand as she added, "maybe we could… do it again sometime."

Keitaro looked awed, taking her hand and (unsure of what else to do) giving it a careful shake. "I'd umm… I'd like that…"

"Would you?"

"Yeah!"

Misato smiled as the young man blushed a bright red, clearly embarrassed by his enthusiasm. "Here," she said quietly, making small movements to keep him from bolting as she reached into her jacket and pulled out a pen. "I work weird hours, so leave me a voice mail, and I'll call you back when I get a chance – and Keitaro," she added as he started to look dejected, "I _will_… call back, ok?"

Reassured that he was not getting a polite brush off, Keitaro gave a weak smile. "Ok."

Pressing her number into his palm, Misato impulsively reversed the accepted protocol for the end of a first time date and lifted his hand to her lips.

"Don't keep me waiting too long," she advised, taking a great deal of pleasure in seeing the young man's knees shaking ever so slightly as she released his hand.

"Y-yeah."

Accepting her coffee from the waitress, Misato gave the woman a few bills out of her pocket and told her to keep the change, gently touching her cup to Keitaro's and gesturing for him to precede her out of the small café.

"Goodnight, Keitaro," she said quietly, "it was nice meeting you."

Looking as if he had been hit in the head with a two-by-four, Keitaro meekly hiccupped, "Goodn-night, Misato."

Sharing one last tentative smile, the two turned and went their separate ways.

Continued…?

Author's notes: I… have an idea…

Pre-read was by Hawker-748 and MacBeth2001, cuz they know both series and they liked what I have planned for this story.


	2. Ice Cream and New Friends

Disclaimer: the rights to all anime series depicted in this story are the excusive properties of the original creators. Should any of the copyright holders request it, this story will be removed from the web immediately.

Perceptions

(EVA Echo)

Part 3 – Ice Cream and New Friends

By Random1377

"Why are you going out with that loser?"

Misato ignored Asuka's blunt query, choosing instead to continue putting her lipstick on. She regarded herself critically in the bathroom mirror before pressing her fingertip carefully against the front of her mouth. "Perfect," she whispered, giving her reflecting a suggestive wink. "Oh I'm sorry," she said, turning to where Asuka was leaning against the doorframe, "did you say something?"

Asuka gave her a withering look. "I said, 'why are you going out with that loser?'"

"Sorry," Misato said apologetically, "it's just that it looks like you're talking… but I can't seem to hear you."

"Shinji," Asuka said suddenly, grabbing the Third Child by the arm as he tried to walk past, "tell Misato she's being stupid."

Shinji, though terribly afraid of Asuka, happened to be _more_ afraid of Misato, and therefore replied with a mumbled reply that sounded something like, "Dontknowallthecircumstances."

Asuka tightened her hold on his arm. "You don't need too," she said flatly, "all you need to know is that Misato is about to make a huge mistake and waste hours and hours of time in the company if the biggest dork who ever lived."

Considering this for a moment, Shinji hesitantly asked, "…Hyouga?"

"Actually," Misato said casually, "word has it that he's a _god_ in the bedroom."

Making a face, Asuka released Shinji's arm – as if the very contact had brought the topic to this point. "Eeww."

As Misato slipped between the two Children, Asuka clarified, "She's found herself a little something extra on the side – a college student, I guess, though it took him three tries to get _in_."

"Really?" Shinji asked curiously. "I um… I kinda thought you and Mister Kaji… I mean, you know…"

Misato slipped her jacket on, pulling the zipper halfway up before turning to face Shinji. "I'm not married to him, you know," she reminded him. "Kaji and me… what we have is complicated – but this right here? This is just a little date, ok?" She gave Asuka a dismissive glance. "You kids – both of you _kids_ – need to learn that going out with someone does not translate into kissing, screwing, and marrying them, got it?"

"I think I get it!" Asuka said suddenly, pounding her fist into the palm of her hand. "I finally, finally get it!" As Misato and Shinji stared blankly at her, she explained, "If your boyfriend is out of town on business, that makes it ok to just fool around with whoever you like – as long as you call it 'dating' instead of 'cheating'! Thanks, Misato. The more time I spend with you, the more I learn, and the more I learn, the more I feel like a real, honest to God adult… just… like… you."

When Misato had no immediate comeback, Asuka turned to Shinji.

"Take me out to dinner."

"Wh-what?"

"It's just a date," Asuka said, shooting daggers at Miasto with her eyes, "it's not like we're going to kiss or screw or get married, right?"

"You're not proving anything, you know," Misato observed. "There's a big difference between adults and-"

"Better think hard before you finish that sentence, Misato," Asuka cut in sharply, "and remember just who saves your goddamn life every time there's an angel."

Grabbing Shinji's hand, Asuka hauled him towards the front door.

"Have fun on your date, Misato," she said coldly, "and we'll have fun on ours."

Though she tried her best not to, Misato countered with her honest opinion on the matter.

"Oh, I doubt that."

Without bothering to turn around, Asuka lifted the hand not holding Shinji's arm and illustrated what she thought of Misato at that moment with a single, upraised finger.

Misato stared at the front door for several moments after it had been slammed, wondering if she needed to contact Section Two and have them detain the enraged redhead. _Nah,_ she thought finally, _she'll cool off… have Shinji buy her some shark fin ramen… give me dirty looks for a few days… and that'll be that._

She started towards the front door herself, but hesitated, glancing down at her shirt for a minute before grinning and slowly unhooking another button.

_There,_ she thought with some satisfaction, _if that doesn't catch his eye, then there's a good REASON he's managing a girl's dorm – and it isn't his restraint._

( 0 0 0 )

Shinji sighed as he stepped off the elevator, scuffing his feet on the floor and jamming his hands deep into his pants pockets as he idly wondered if Misato, at least, was having a good date. _Date,_ he thought ironically, _can you even call being dragged to the subway station and being told, 'Gimme some money and get out of here,' a date._

Not that he had really expected to go on a date with Asuka. He, like Misato, knew full well that the redhead was just trying to get under Misato's skin – and had failed rather spectacularly.

_I wouldn't have minded, though,_ Shinji mused as he wandered down the hall towards the apartment. _I mean, we DID kiss once. Even if she held my nose shut, I can say that I had my first kiss with a really pretty girl._ He frowned. _Too bad it'll never be more than just-_

"Ow!"

Looking up at this sudden cry of pain, Shinji realized that he was face to face with a young girl who had been standing just outside of the apartment… and that the reason she had cried out was that he had stepped on her foot.

And he was still standing on it.

"Ah, sorry!"

He stepped back as the girl (a foreigner with darkly tanned skin and bright, corn-yellow hair) hopped around on one foot, holding her injured toes in both hands and dropping the slip of paper she had been clutching when he walked up.

"Ow, that really hurts!" she moaned, squinting up at Shinji with tears in her emerald colored eyes. "You're mean!"

"I didn't mean it!" Shinji said quickly. "I was just… I didn't see you."

The girl threw her head back and wailed, "They're broken! My toes are broken!"

Shinji turned a rather interesting shade of green. "I'm so sorry," he babbled, "here, I'll take you to the doctor."

"No!" the girl bawled, scrubbing at her eyes with both fists. "They'll just say there's nothing they can do and send me home – you need… you need to…"

Eager to learn what he could do to make things right, Shinji leaned forward. "Yeah?"

"You need to buy me ice cream!"

"Right!" Shinji said decisively. "Ice cream will…" he trailed off. "Wait, how would that help?"

The girl looked up at him, blinking as she realized that her ruse had been seen through. "Ummm… it's yummy…?" she offered, letting her arms fall to her side as she stood (quite comfortably) on both feet.

Shinji stared at her for several, long moments.

"I'm Su."

Unthinkingly, he took the hand she offered and shook it. "Er, Shinji…"

"Nice to meet you, Shinji," the girl said brightly. "So, where's the best ice cream around here?"

"Wait," Shinji said, entirely confused, "I'm not…"

He trailed off as the girl's eyes began to well up, and her bottom lip began to tremble. "You're… not going to buy me ice cream?" she asked tremulously. "Even… even after stomping on my toes like that?"

"I didn't stomp on them," Shinji protested weakly, "I just step-"

Su sniffled, and a solitary tear slowly ran down her right cheek.

( 0 0 0 )

Ten minutes later, Shinji was sitting across from the girl in a small ice cream shop a few blocks from the apartment building, watching her scarf down a sundae that looked like it weighed more than she did and talking at great speed about how she lived in a boarding house with a bunch of other girls and a dopy landlord, but that she really liked the dopy landlord and was sure that the girl he was dating was bad for him.

"That's why I'm here," she informed Shinji between bites. "Keitaro may be an idiot, but he's our idiot, and I don't want to see him getting mixed up with some floozy."

"So, let me get this right," Shinji said, rubbing his aching temples as the girl tilted her head back and popped what looked like an entire scoop of ice cream into it. "You've only met this woman once, and your landlord's only gone out with her once, but you're sure that she's out to… what was it you said?"

"Eat him up."

"Right."

"Why else would she be so angry about him not calling her?" Su shrugged. "Keitaro isn't really like, hot or anything… and he's not all that smart… and he's kind of a pervert, and kind of clumsy, so it doesn't make sense that she would just like, fall for him or something… so she must be up to something – she just wants to do nasty things to him and then throw him away like a dirty towel."

Shinji politely asked, "Don't you wash dirty towels?"

Su considered this for a moment.

"…a dirty napkin, then?"

"Either way," Shinji said neutrally, "maybe… maybe this woman really likes him."

Su gave him a defiant look. "Well I liked him first," she declared, shoving the last of her ice cream into her mouth. "And she can't have him!"

Shinji smiled at the girl's determination. "He must be a great guy," he observed. "I mean, he's got two girls fighting over him, so… what's so funny?"

Trying not to spit her ice cream, Su said, "Two? Try seven!"

"Seven?" Shinji whistled. "Wow, he must be like, perfect."

"Nope," Su replied. "I just told you he was a total doofus."

Frowning in confusion, Shinji asked, "Then why is everyone trying to get him?"

"Because he's nice."

For this, Shinji had no reply. He sat in silence as the young girl began systematically scraping the last bit of ice cream out of her bowl, his mind going over and over one, simple fact.

_I'm nice… but girls don't fall all over themselves to get me to go out with them._

From this, he reasoned that there must be a lot more to this Keitaro guy than Su was telling him. Not that he was surprised, really. She had only known him for a half hour, so there was really no reason for her to spill her deepest, darkest secrets.

He wondered if he would get the chance to meet the guy – and maybe get some pointers.

_Anyone that has girls FIGHTING over him has to know SOMETHING about women._

"So," he said after a moment of quiet, "this woman that's after your landlord… she lives in my building?"

"That's what the DMV says," Su answered brightly. "I wasn't going to _talk_ to her or anything, I just kind of wanted to see where she lives, you know? Scope out enemy territory and stuff."

"Oh."

With the ice cream finished, Shinji and Su headed out onto the streets.

"Thanks for the ice cream, Shinji," the girl said brightly. "It was good."

"Sure," Shinji replied. "I'm sorry I stepped on your toes."

Su waved a hand, smiling happily as she said, "Nah, it's ok – it didn't even hurt."

Somehow, Shinji had guessed that.

"Do you want me to walk you to the train?" he asked. "It's getting late, and a girl your age-"

"How old are you?"

Shinji blinked. "Me? I'm fourteen."

Su grinned mischievously. "When was your birthday?"

"June."

Her grin turned into a happy laugh, and abruptly, she leaned over and nudged him in the ribs. "You should call me 'senpai,'" she said teasingly, "I'm two months older than you." Dropping him a conspiratorial wink, she added, "You're cute, though. If I wasn't going to marry Keitaro, you could be my boyfriend."

Blushing, Shinji weakly stammered, "Th-thanks."

Pleased with herself, Su laced her fingers together at the small of her back. "It was nice meeting you, Shinji," she said happily. "I still have to stop that woman from seeing Keitaro, though, and since you live in the same building, I might see you again."

Shinji smiled, still unable to believe that this little slip of a girl was older than he was. "Sounds like fun," he said honestly, because while the girl _did_ trick him into thinking he had hurt her, she was so lively and energetic it was hard to stay angry at her, and the thought of hanging out with her seemed quite appealing to the lonely pilot.

"Bye, Shinji."

"Bye, S-Su… oh, hey, wait."

Su glanced over her shoulder as Shinji called out to her. "What?"

"Maybe I could look around for that woman for you," Shinji offered. "Do you know her name?"

"Of course," Su said matter-of-factly. "It's Misato Katsuragi."

Shinji was so shocked by this revelation that he could only gape in wide-eyed astonishment as Su skipped off towards the train station.

Continued…

Pre-read was by Hawker-748 and MacBeth2001


	3. Disappointment(s)

Disclaimer: the rights to all anime series depicted in this story are the exclusive properties of the original creators. Should any of the copyright holders request it, this story will be removed from the web immediately.

Perceptions

(EVA Echo)

Part 5 – Disappointment(s)

By Random1377

Shinji had never liked the lion cages in the zoo. He knew some people felt sad watching the huge cats confined to such a small area, but as for himself, he was never comfortable with all that power being held in check by what he considered flimsy locks and weak bars. Somehow, he just knew that if they were truly determined the lions could get out and kill everyone they could get their paws on.

Watching Misato pace back and forth in the kitchen was giving him uncomfortable flashbacks of his last visit to the zoo.

"Two days? Seriously?" the woman muttered under her breath, giving the phone a scathing glance. "Two _days_?"

Discretely, Shinji eyed the stockpot on the stove, convinced that at one point in her mumblings the woman had said, 'I will not be _ignored_!'

"Ahh!"

Shinji jumped as Misato came to a stop directly in front of him and pounded the table with her fist.

"Why hasn't he called me?"

"Er…"

"You're a guy, right?" Misato asked, sounding as if she needed him to confirm this fact before proceeding. When Shinji slowly nodded, his guardian leaned forward and pulled her shirt open almost far enough to completely expose herself. "Anything wrong here? Hmm? Nice, right? Good size? Nice shape? Firm? Why—in _God's_ name—would you not call if _this_ was on the other end of the line?"

For the first time since Asuka had moved in, Shinji found himself wishing she would make one of her patented 'bad timing' entrances and save him by offering some quip about getting a hotel… though he _would_ have settled for her decking him and calling him a pervert, if it would get him out of that situation.

If he stared… he was a dead man (and oh he _wanted_ to stare, because they _were_ nice, and they _did _have a good size, and they _were_ firm), but if he pretended that he couldn't see the lovely, perfumed skin being shoved almost literally in his face, he would be just as dead, because Misato—God have mercy on Keitaro's soul—had lost her patience.

Not that she had much to begin with, but what she had was long gone now.

Clearing his throat, the Third risked a brief, heavenly glance before looking Misato in the eyes (_always the eyes_, a voice in the back of his head screamed) and stammering, "I'd… I'd call…"

Misato rolled her eyes. "Well of course _you_ would," she muttered, "_you_ have some common sense!"

Shinji wasn't sure if he should thank her for this 'compliment' or not.

Letting her shirt fall back into place (to Shinji's mixed relief and disappointment), Misato resumed pacing. "It's those girls," she theorized. "I'll bet you anything. He says they're all just tenants, but I'll bet at least one of them has a thing for him."

Thinking of Su, Shinji said, "Umm, they might just be all friends, Misato. I mean, they all live together… wouldn't, umm, wouldn't one of them having a crush on him make the others, I dunno, jealous…?"

"Maybe," Misato conceded, "but that doesn't mean they don't—and I wouldn't put it past that brunette one to do something about it. She was practically Asuka part two, and we both know Asuka doesn't know when to quit."

Shinji immediately looked towards the door, but of course, Asuka wasn't there.

_Figures,_ he thought dismally. _She'd only turn up if it made ME look stupid._

Grinding her teeth, Misato proclaimed, "I'm going out. Here's a couple bucks for lunch and dinner."

"Er, thanks," Shinji murmured as she thrust a small handful of bills at him. "See you later."

As he counted the money, he figured there was about enough for one small meal. For one.

No drink.

_Some things never change._

( 0 0 0 )

Oddly enough, Shinji ended up using the money to buy himself some ice cream. Since Second Impact had rendered Tokyo a permanent summer wonderland, ice cream was never inappropriate, though he himself had never had much of a taste for the stuff. That day, though, it just felt like the right thing to do.

_Makes me think of that girl,_ he thought as he walked down the street and worked on his cone. _Su. She's strange, but…_

He tried to put his finger on what he wanted to think. He wouldn't say he _liked_ her, necessarily, but she certainly had a lot of energy. It was like being with Asuka… only in a nondestructive way. Su's energy was positive and forward, instead of scathing and wry.

The more he thought about it, the more he decided that Su wasn't like anyone else that he knew. She wasn't the polar opposite of any one person, but she was a perfect complement to just about everyone he knew. Energetic like Asuka, thoughtful like Ayanami, bright like Horaki, bold like Touji.

"She's still weird," he muttered to himself, "but I guess-"

"Weird is talking to yourself."

"Gah!"

Shinji threw his hands up defensively as a deeply tanned face appeared literally in front of him. It took him a moment to register what, exactly, was wrong with the picture, since he was still in a state of mild shock, but after blinking a few times he realized that what had struck him as odd was that the face was upside down.

"S-Su?" he stammered, looking up and then quickly away as he was treated to the sight of the girl's exposed panties. "What are you doing?"

Su grinned, unhooking her legs from the signpost where she had been hanging to drop lightly onto the ground in front of him.

"Isn't it obvious?" Su said brightly. "I came to see… you."

Shinji half expected her to punctuate the 'you' with a poke in the nose… and Su didn't disappoint, making him go cross-eyed as her forefinger made contact with his face.

"You look like a monkey when you make that face."

Shaking his head to clear it, Shinji said, "I'm not the one hanging around and scaring people." Glancing down, he found Su looking like she was on the verge of tears. "What? What did I say?"

Su's lip trembled. "You… you…"

"I'm sorry," Shinji said reflexively.

Ignoring him, Su crouched down, a mournful expression on her face as she whispered, "You wasted it…!"

Shinji followed her line of sight, finding the remains of his ice cream cone melting on the hot sidewalk at her feet.

"Umm…"

Abruptly, Su turned on him. "I didn't even get any," she sobbed, her face a mask of miserable sorrow. "I just wanted a lick, but you wasted all of it… you're mean!"

Shinji was about to offer to buy her a replacement before realizing that he was the one who should be upset. "It was mine," he pointed out, feeling flustered and confused as Su stood up and stared at him with her hands on her hips. "I bought you some before, remember? I'm… I'm not mean…"

This last was spoken with his hands in his pockets and his eyes on the street in front of him. When he looked back up after a few seconds of silence, he found Su staring at him with a pleased grin on her youthful face.

"You're fun to tease."

Before Shinji could respond, Su stepped closer to him and studied his eyes closely before nodding to herself in satisfaction.

"Yup," she said decisively, "you can take me on a date."

"W…what?"

Su looped her arm around his and started pulling him down the street, her voice smug as she said, "A date. Everyone does it, even Keitaro, I guess… so you can take me on one, because I like you."

The world spun slowly around as Shinji found himself dragged along behind the bubbly foreigner. 'I like you.' When was the last time someone had said that to him? Could he even remember?

_Why?_ he thought. _What's to like?_

He bit his lip before the words could escape, suddenly afraid that if he asked, it would be rescinded… and, for the time at least… being liked was even more refreshing than the now-forgotten ice cream melting in the hot summer sun.

"So damn hot today," Misato complained, accelerating past a car full of what looked like first impact survivors. "Yeah, get off the road, lady! You kiss your grandkids with that mouth?"

Mumbling a few more choice curses under her breath, she turned the corner, heading towards NERV central at what would politely be called a 'brisk' pace.

_Three days now,_ she thought, slowing down as she approached an intersection. _Did I not give enough hints? I thought it was pretty clear that he was going to get lucky, so why-_

"You're kind of being a whiny little bitch, don't you think?"

It was fortunate for Misato and Asuka that the car was at a red light when Asuka offered up this little pearl of wisdom, because her guardian looked at her so sharply that anything in front of the car would surely have been flattened had they been in motion.

"Wanna run that by me again?" she growled, giving the redhead a flat, dangerous glare.

She didn't need to ask what the subject was. Before the red light, she had been checking her phone every block or so to see if she had missed a call, and she _knew_ Shinji wasn't good at keeping secrets, so of course Asuka knew what was under her skin.

Confronting her about it, though, was about as good an idea as waking a hibernating bear. With a pair of cymbals. And a cattle prod.

"Whiny… little… bitch," Asuka said clearly, half-closing her eyes and nearly drawling the words. "Mooning over some other guy while you've already got Kaji—plus the fact that you're mooning over a loser. Geez, just do something about it already. This is just sad."

Misato flushed. "Because you're such an expert on relationships now?" she snapped. "Mind your own business."

"Well I _would_," Asuka said, rolling her eyes in disgust as she turned to look out the window, "but you're moping all over the damn place and acting like a little kid. So this loser lives with some other girls—big deal. Lay down the law, for god's sake! That's _your_ man, right? Even if he _is_ an idiot, you need to let those little girls know who's boss! Take what's yours!"

For a moment, Misato said nothing. Then, slowly, she muttered, "You're just trying to get me out of the way."

"Maybe," Asuka admitted with a shrug, "but even if I wasn't, I'd tell you the same damn thing. I can't stand seeing someone I respect acting like a two year old who didn't get any cookies."

Pursing her lips, Misato said, "You respect me?"

Asuka turned and looked her in the eyes.

"I used to."

Nostrils flaring, Misato looked up to find that the light (which _had_ been green) was turning red. Hitting the gas anyway, she grumbled, "Great… now I'm taking advice from a kid."

With a snort, Asuka said, "Doesn't matter who it's coming from. It makes sense, and you know it. That's why you're so mad."

"Shut up."

"Bite me."

For a moment, Misato considered hammering the brakes and giving Asuka a piece of her mind. She held off, however, as one thought crossed her mind: _Goddamn it, she's right._

This really wasn't her style at all. What was the matter with her? She had decided to go out with the shy artist because she wanted something uncomplicated and easy (and maybe another reason she wasn't willing to face on a conscious level), and now it was just adding stress to an already complicated life.

_Screw it,_ she thought. _You asked for it, Keitaro._

In the passenger seat, Asuka suddenly shivered, cupping her elbows as she gave her guardian a furtive, sideways glance.

And smiled.

Continued…

Hawker-748 took a few minutes out of his otherwise busy schedule to pre-read this chapter. Thanks man. Now get back to work!


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